Congratulations Needed, Not Condemnation for Brave Politicians

News from the Celtic League

The General Secretary (GS) of the Celtic League has written to the Irish Government urging them to drop all charges against Mick Wallace TD and Clare Daly TD, following their arrest last week. The Irish members of parliament tok matters into their own hand in 2014 and attempted to inspect US military aircraft that had stopped over at Shannon airport on suspicion that they were illegally transporting innocent civilians to US airbases away from their home countries.

GS Rhisiart Tal-e-bot stated that rather than arresting Mr Wallace and Ms Daly, the Irish Government should be congratulating the pair for making a stand. the full text of the letter is set out below.

12/12/15

Dear Minister Charles Flanagan

Support for Mick Wallace TD and Clare Daly TD

I am writing to you to express my support for Mick Wallace TD and Clare Daly TD, who were arrested this week for refusing to pay their fine for attempting to inspect suspected US military rendition flights at Shannon Airport in 2014.

The suspicion that the Irish Government is continuing to allow Shannon Airport to be used by the CIA and US military for the purposes of their rendition flight programme, without restriction or oversight, is strong. As you will be aware human rights organisations, like Amnesty International, have provided evidence to the Irish Government that known rendition flights have stopped over at Shannon airport and the European Council and European Parliament have previously stated that the Irish Government has avoided its international human rights responsibilities by refusing to investigate these allegations. It seems that the Irish Government is continuing to evade these responsibilities, with the organisation ‘Shannon Watch’ reporting that US military flights using Shannon airport as recently as June this year.

In the light of the continued use of Shannon Airport by the US military and the systematic failure of the Irish Government to fulfil its duties under international law, in spite of large scale domestic and international pressure (including from the Celtic League) over a sustained period, it seems as though Mr Wallace and Ms Daly were left with little choice, but to take matters into their own hands.

In breaching security and attempting to inspect the US military planes themselves, Mr Wallace and Ms Daly were simply carrying out a duty, that the Gardaí had failed to undertake. If Mr Wallace and Ms Daly had not made an attempt to speak out about the use of Shannon airport, then they would have been potentially complicit in the suspected human rights abuse of innocent people.

I urge you to drop all charges against Mick Wallace TD and Clare Daly TD for taking their stand. In fact congratulations to them both should be issued by the Irish Government for their braveness for trying to tackle powerful international criminals operating on Irish soil.

The Celtic League established in 1961 has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It promotes cooperation between the countries and campaigns on a range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, military activity and socio-economic issues